The present invention refers to the field of treatment of patients with heavy skin lesions, for example burns widely distributed on their skin surface.
The treatment of persons heavily injured from burns is currently carried out in different medical centres following a common standard according to the currently widely accepted opinion of medical researchers. In spite of a careful treatment and a long and expensive stay of the patients in medical centres there is a high grade of lethality especially with high grade burns or similar skin lesions covering big parts of a person's skin. As a result, there are also losses of grafts requiring additional surgeries. Changes of bandages are required frequently and have to be carried out under anaesthetic. They are very time consuming and expensive. Systemic infections are difficult to control and can not always be avoided.
From the prior art, vacuum treatment methods are known to treat such skin lesions which can improve the treatment, lead to a faster healing and success including lowering the costs of the treatment.
From PCT-application WO 03/0180 98 A2 there is known a system for treatment of patients using a sponge body which is put on a wound and where a gastight cover is applied in a gastight manner on the surface of the patient's body. The cover is connected with means for generating a vacuum.
By the sucking of air a vacuum is generated in the area of the lesion which boosts the healing and at the same time supports pressing the sponge body against the lesion.
The known system is not satisfying, as it allows only treatment of small and limited skin lesions because the tightening around the sponge body requires an area of healthy skin of a patient. It is very laborious to apply the cover in a gastight manner to a patient because the gastight layer of the cover has to be applied without crease. This is not easy because the foil used as a gastight layer is difficult to handle.